1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to dental teaching models and more particularly to a set of upper and lower artificial (false) teeth, and their supporting gum and jaw structure.
2. Description of the Related Art
At the present time, in United States dental schools, first and second year students do not generally practice dentistry on patients. Instead, those students utilize teaching aids in the form of a model of sets of artificial teeth. The students utilize the sets of artificial teeth to simulate a live patient. Often a model of a set of artificial teeth is placed in an artificial skull which is then held in a dental chair so that the location and orientation of the false teeth are similar to the location and orientation of the teeth of an actual patient who is sitting in a dental chair.
The dental students may perform, on the artificial teeth, many of the dental skills they learn in the classroom, such as drilling the teeth, filling cavities, etc.
The presently commercially available dental teaching models of artificial teeth have a number of disadvantages. That type of model is shown generally in U.S. Pat. No. 2,005,114 to Spitzer et al entitled "Dental Model". First, the teeth are held in a model, representing the jaw and gum, by screws. When replacement of teeth is necessary, it is annoying and time-consuming to replace the teeth. Secondly, the teeth, when being worked on by a drill, may have a tendency to become loosened due to the vibrations of the drill. Such loosened teeth do not accurately simulate teeth in a patient. In addition, the teeth are of a very hard substance and not like the actual teeth which have the hardness of an enamel.
A number of patents have issued in the past for dental models with false teeth. In U.S. Pat. No. 3,458,936 to Schulz et al entitled "Dental Model With Teeth Retainer-Pins", each tooth is mounted on an elongated pin having a central square portion and a bottom head portion which snap, for retention, into holes in a flexible plastic under layer.
In U.S. Pat. No. 2,750,670 to Vigg entitled "Dental Model", the artificial teeth are held in sockets by a flexible cement and therefore they are not easily replaced. The Vigg dental model, like that of Schultz, did not obtain widespread or sustained acceptance in the dental field.
The following dental models are suitable for teaching purposes. In U.S. Pat. No. 3,226,827 to Splaten entitled "Dental Apparatus", the teeth are mounted on dowel pins so that they are not secured. U.S. Pat. No. 1,822,043 to Kohler entitled "Dentist's Model" uses a pin which fits into a flexible tube. U.S. Pat. No. 1,948,059 to Baugh uses a tooth mounted on a pin which fits into a spring device. U.S. Pat. No. 1,387,540 to Hawksworth et al entitled "Technical Anatomical Dental Model" uses groove and root retaining beads. U.S. Pat. No. 1,711,947 to Ingwesen entitled "Dental Model" uses roots with lugs. U.S. Pat. No. 2,266,434 to Morrison entitled Dental Model" is a demonstration model to educate the patient, in which the teeth are mounted on threaded pins which fit by friction into holes. U.S. Pat. No. 1,045,920 to Wenker entitled "Dental Form" shows a demonstration model in which the teeth are embedded in rubber jaws.